20 Companies Most Susceptible To Negative Comments Via Facebook

In the recent Temkin Group Insight report, How Consumers Give Feedback, we analyzed what US consumers did after they had a very bad or a very good experience. One of the areas we examined was the use of social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter.

As a part of the analysis, we examined the difference in social media use across 141 companies. Our analysis looked at how often people that had interacted with those companies had also used social media to talk about a very bad experience in the previous 60 days. We then compared that data to the overall US average.

This chart shows the 20 companies that interact with consumers who are most likely to post a very bad experience on Facebook.

As you can see, Days Inn, E*TRADE, and Apple are twice as susceptible to having a bad experience show up on Facebook.

The bottom line: These firms need to think a bit more about Facebook than the average company

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I am a customer experience transformist, helping large organizations improve business results by changing how they deal with customers. As part of this focus, I examine strategy, culture, interaction design, customer service, branding and leadership practices. I am also a fanatical student of business, so this blog provides an outlet for sharing insights from my ongoing educational journey.
Simply put, I am passionate about spotting emerging best practices and helping companies master them. And, as many people know, I love to speak about these topics in almost any forum.
My “title” is Managing Partner of the Temkin Group, a customer experience research and consulting firm that helps organizations become more customer-centric. Our goal is simple: accelerate the path to delighting customers.
I am also the co-founder and Emeritus Chair of the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to the success of CX professionals.

Your inclusion of Days Inn near the top is unsurprising, considering I compared their website to other hotel websites last fall looking specifically for social media icons. You can see the results, showing them at the bottom whereas Best Western was the best (of 7 reviewed) to me.

There is a central flaw in this analysis. We see this frequently when people analyze sentiment. Measuring only positives or negatives ignores half the equation. The best sentiment metrics take into account both positives and negatives simultaneously. Some topics simply attract more “passion” than others. When negatives are high it is possible that positives are even higher.

This is what you measured: ”how often people that had interacted with those companies had also used social media to talk about a very bad experience in the previous 60 days. We then compared that data to the overall US average”. What does this say about positive sentiment? Nothing!

Let’s consider an example. Apple is #3 on the list. Apple is a brand that attracts lots of fans as well as detractors. In my opinion measuring negatives without measuring positives most likely leads us to an erroneous conclusion about how people feel about Apple.

Steve: The analysis covered both positive and negative feedback across social media and other channels (see the report How Consumers Give Feedback). But the posts just deal with one aspect of the overall analysis.